Dongji is the day which has the longest night in a year. It was countered by lunar calendar. It was December 22nd in this year. On Dongji day, Koreans eat special soup named Patjuk.
Patjuk 팥죽
Patjuk means ‘red bean gruel’. Pat means red beans, and juk means soup. Let me introduce the simple recipe of Patjuk. First, boil the red beans. When the red beans are cooked enough, mash the red beans and blender them with some rice or glutinous rice flour. Then, boil them again. While they are boiling, make some rice balls with the rest of glutinous rice flour and cook them. They are called Saealsim. Then add Saealsim into the boiling soup made of red beans and rice flour. Then the delicious Patjuk is done!
The ancestors of Korean made Patjuk and did Gosa(shamanistic ritual in which food is offered to the spirits in order to avoid misfortune and bring good luck). And they put some bowls of Patjuk at each room, barn, platform for crocks, and so on to expel the evil spirits. Also, they sprinkled Patjuk at the gate or the wall near the gate. They did so because the color of patjuk was red, which is ‘the color of Yang’. They believed the color of Yang will have an efficacy to expel the Yin ghosts.
However, when Dongji is before the November 10th by lunar calendar, the day of Dongji is called Aedongji. On Aedongji, Koreans don’t make Patjuk because they believe making Patjuk on Aedongji is bad for children.
Koreans’ ancestors ate Patjuk, Patbab, Pat-tteok when they have happy or bad occasions. It is continued until these days. Like this, the foods made of red beans are believed to grant the wishes. Believe it or not the fact, the red beans are good for our health in many ways. So, why don’t you try some Patjuk on Dongji?
By Hye-rin In / VANK
( Wanna see original post on ‘Friendly Korea’ in VANK ? Click here -> http://prkorea.com/engnews/index.cgi?action=detail&number=783&thread=10r01 )
